Inside the Gran Hotel: CaixaForum Palma's Modernista Landmark
Before it was a cultural centre, CaixaForum Palma was the Gran Hotel — the building that announced Modernisme in Mallorca. Designed by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1901 and 1903, it was the island's first hotel with electricity and a telephone, and remains one of the finest Modernista buildings in Palma: five storeys of brick, wrought iron and glazed ceramics, its façade lavished with floral motifs, sculpture and coloured tile. Step inside and the visit is free. You can wander the spaces, take in the detail, and see the Anglada-Camarasa room — the permanent collection of the painter Hermen Anglada-Camarasa that the building has held for decades. It's the quiet counterpoint to the ticketed temporary exhibitions, and a natural first stop on any Palma Modernisme walk. Practical: Open daily 10:00–20:00 · free entry · closed 25 December, 1 & 6 January.